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12th Station: Numazu

12th Station: Numazu

Series Title: The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road - Hoeido Edition

Artist: Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige I (Japanese, 1797 - 1858)

Date: 1831 - 1834
Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 9 x 14 in. (22.9 x 35.6 cm)
Credit Line:Museum Purchase
Object number: 1933.326.55.13

In this nocturnal scene travelers are viewed walking along the traditional, pine tree-lined path along the river bank towards the village ahead, under a huge full moon in a deep blue night sky. The last traveler in the group wears the white robes of a pilgrim and  carrys a large Tengu mask on his back, the mark of a pilgrim going to the Shinto shrine of Kompira on Shikoku Island. Tengu are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore. They are one of the best known monster-spirits (yokai) and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto-revered spirits or gods (kami).

Numazu was the castle town of the daimyo of Numazu Domain. During its peak in the Edo period, it included over 1,200 buildings.

 

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